


If She Had Known

by ChloeWinchester



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Implied/Referenced Torture, Psychological Torture, Verbal Abuse, Verbal Humiliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-04-13
Packaged: 2018-03-22 16:46:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3736267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChloeWinchester/pseuds/ChloeWinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin Hood left Belle's number with the hospital and the doctors give her a call. Belle arrives just in time to see her husband's unwanted visitor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If She Had Known

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Johniarty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Johniarty/gifts).



“I’m-I’m sorry, what?” Belle gripped the phone, her brow pinched. That couldn’t be right, she hadn’t heard that right…

“Mrs. Gold, I said your husband’s had a heart attack. He’s here in the hospital now,” the physician on the other line repeated, and Belle had to grip onto the counter for support.

“A-a heart attack? Is he alright? Is he going to be okay?” She demanded, her voice strained. She was already putting on her coat, staring at Emma from across the room.

“He should be alright but we’re keeping him for at least a day to be sure. He’s awake and everything, uh, would you like to talk to him?”

“No! No, that’s...not necessary, thank you,” she assured, grabbing her keys and hanging up. “Emma, I need the scroll.”

Emma frowned. “Scroll, what scroll?”

“The one the Snow Queen used to get back into Storybrooke, I need it,” she implored, wringing her hands.

“Belle, look-”

“I know! I know what he did, I know everything he’s done, but he...he’s sick. He could be dying, and he’s all alone,” her breath shook, tears in her eyes. “Don’t make me leave him there. Please.”  Emma stared at her, still unsure. “Emma, I am leaving here one way or the other and I need you to trust me. Please, he’s my husband.”

Emma sighed, looking at the floor a moment before raising her eyes back to hers. “Don’t make me regret this, okay?”

~*~

The drive from Storybrooke to New York was supposed to take much longer than it did for her, Belle was sure of that, pulling the Cadillac into a parking space and trying not to run out. She shouldn’t have sent him out here alone like this, she shouldn’t have sent him away with nothing and nowhere to go like she had.

What he’d done was horrible, sure, but… But she couldn’t leave him alone in a hospital in a strange place by himself. The idea of him having to go through that was too much to bear, and he’d already spent too much time alone. Why had they waited to call her-?

Who told them to call her?

It didn’t matter.

“Um, excuse me, I’m looking for my husband? Last name Gold?” She said, peeking over the front desk. The nurse gave her the room number, then paused, looking at something on her computer screen. She looked up at Belle, expression grave and sympathetic, and nodded to two doctors talking to each other just inside the hall.

“Dr. Alvers needs to speak with you before you go see him, honey,” the woman said. Belle’s heart jumped, her stomach sinking violently.

“Oh...okay,” she muttered, walking over slowly, catching the dark skinned doctor’s attention. “Hello, um, I’m Mrs. Gold, did  you need to talk to me?” Dr. Alvers gave her a sad look, and Belle’s anxieties weren’t lessened in the slightest.

“Mrs. Gold, your husband...flatlined earlier today-”

“What?! No, no, he can’t-”

“He’s alright!” He assured. “He’s going to be fine, at least for now. He had a second heart attack and his heart stopped for just a minute, but he’s alright for now. We did have to put him on a breathing machine-”

“Breathing- what” What is that, what does that mean?” She pressed tears standing in her eyes. He died. He’d died, his heart had stopped and she hadn’t been here. Her legs started to shake.

He was explaining to her what it was but she couldn’t hear anymore, she couldn’t register what he was saying to her, really, all she understood was they shoved a tube down Rumplestiltskin’s throat to help him breathe because doing it on his own was too hard.

Tears touched her cheeks and she nodded. “Can I see him?” She whispered. That’s all she wanted, that’s all that mattered, was that she was there and could touch him if he needed her to, talk to him about anything but the obvious and just...help him. Because if the same had happened to her, were these situations reversed, he would have done the same.

“Yes, of course. I’m not sure he’s awake, but you’re more than welcome to sit in with him.”

Once given permission she broke away from him entirely, going toward the hospital room without thinking on it further. She was crying, silent tears rolling down her face, heels clicking down the hall.

What he’d done didn’t matter. None of it mattered and not an ounce of her rage remained. Everything else she felt before that phone call had been replaced with fear, and ache, and this roaring understanding that she loved him still, and more than she could express. The rest be damned.

Belle reached the door- And paused.

A voice, an eerily familiar one, was speaking in low, hissing tones, and without looking inside Belle knew who it was.

She covered her mouth, eyes wide. Why was she here, how was she still alive-?

What was she doing with him? The brief instances when she had seen him in the witch’s grasp, the pain in his face, the fear, the defeat and shame in his expression was palpable. The nightmares that had followed were so horrific he refused to speak on them  and Belle knew, she _knew_ that Zelena had hurt him more deeply than he would ever express to her.

She stayed out of sight, listening.

“...My, your predicament does look painful,” the witch was saying. “Oh, there was a time I would have relished this.” Belle heard him grunt, and rage flared inside of her so quickly the fire flashed over in her eyes. “Your vendetta against me for the death of your son… Wow. That would make this a strong, practical choice.”

Belle slipped out of her heels, and it took a good deal off her height, but she’d be silent now when she moved. She looked in for a split second, just looked around the doorway a moment. And there she was, holding the tubes that were helping Rumple breathe and using them like a leash to make him move when she wanted.

She ducked away again and covered her mouth, shutting her eyes. What did she want, what could she possibly want?!

“But! See, I’m not done telling you about my clever plan.” Belle could hear him breathing again, and easier and she closed her eyes again, shaking her head. This couldn’t be real. “I was going to use my little Marion glamour-” Belle cursed internally. Marion. She’d...Pretended to be Marion. “-to steal Robin’s heart.” Rumple groaned again and her stomach turned. No more of this. “Have him fall in love with me.”

As Zelena rambled about stealing Regina’s true love, how wonderful that would be, Belle started edging into the room, one small movement at a time. There may not have been magic here but Zelena dwarfed her and she wasn’t sure she trusted her rage to trump her overzealous lust.

It was when the witch touched his wedding ring and tried to force it off his hand that Belle understood she was going to bash this woman in the head.

Rumple winced in pain, shutting his eyes while she kept rambling, and Belle kept her gaze on his face, hoping he would sense her, that he would see her and know that it was going to be alright.

His dark eyes stayed on Zelena’s face a moment, wary and watching her just like she was, and then he glanced back.

Rumplestiltskin’s eyes met hers, and the hope that flickered in them made her chest seize. She gave him a soft smile, backing closer to the counter, toward his cane. He swallowed and seamlessly looked back at Zelena, keeping her attention on him.

Belle’s jaw clenched, that rage burning again when she touched his hair and leaned closer to him, every pore in her body screaming at this woman not to touch him, to get away from him, to stop speaking to him hadn’t she done enough without this sick torture as well?

She was looking for the Author too, and wanted Rumple to find him for her. A threat. Another threat, another way to use him.

“...That lump of coal in your narrow, little, chest…

Belle felt bile rise into the back of her throat and she sneered. Mocking him, insulting him, how did he survive the abuse from this wretched woman all that time, how dare she humiliate him-  

Potion. She had a potion that could fix his heart, and she likely had it on her. When it was mentioned, Rumple risked another glance at her, confirming that, and further still that the witch had it on her.

A satisfied air came over her when her hand finally wrapped around the cane. She relaxed, the need to be so silent gone, and flexed her jaw again, gathering that rage and fueling it into her arms. She looked once more at how close this woman was, how she’d touched him without permission how her hand rested on his face and it made her sick.

“...Simply. Blink.”

Belle took a breath. “Get your fucking hands off of my husband.” She snarled.

Zelena whipped around and made a single attempt to stand and speak that Belle put an end to immediately. She cracked Rumple’s cane right across her jaw in one hard swing and she was sure she heard bone crack. Zelena fell hard, likely knocked out but Belle swung at her head again, just making sure.

She stood over her a moment longer, kicking her on her side and digging out the bottle inside her coat, tucking it away and started to yell for help. She kicked Zelena one more time, away from where Rumple was lying, before she rushed to him.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay. It’s alright, I’m here,” she promised, sitting beside him, replacing where Zelena had been entirely.

Rumplestiltskin cried silently, tears sliding down his cheeks, and he couldn’t speak to her, he could only look.

Belle laced their fingers together, their wedding rings touching, her other hand smoothing over where the woman had touched him as if to heal him of her presence. She offered him a wet smile, kissing his knuckles. “Shh...She’s gone. She’s gone, Rumple, it’s alright. I promise it’s alright.

Security ran in and Rumple closed his eyes, not listening as Belle yelled and explained she found Zelena in here threatening to hurt him.

Instead he focused on the warmth of her hand, how the adrenaline leaving him made him sweat and shake and his chest feel that much tighter. Belle smelled so sweet, and just having her close was enough to soothe his battered heart. The bottle of potion rested between the two of them, safe.

He closed his eyes and trembled while more tears burned his eyes and stained his cheeks. He couldn’t stop shaking, he couldn’t breathe properly, and swallowing around the tube shoved down his throat was horribly painful.

Belle’s brilliant eyes met his again, and there were a million things he needed to say to her, a thousand apologies and he couldn’t utter a single one. He could only look at her. She saved him, just as heroes do, but never for him. He’d never been one to be rescued before and here she was, again, successfully getting him away from that detestable witch this time. He couldn’t be more grateful for her. His hero, his wife, his Belle.

Through her own tears, she smiled at him. She cupped his face and pressed her forehead against his, because she understood. She knew.

He closed his eyes and cried harder, chest on fire.

“Shh, Rumple,” she said softly, brushing her fingers against his cheek. “Shh...You’re safe. You’re safe, and-and we have this.” She showed him the bottle. “You’re going to be alright. And I’m going to take you home and everything’s going to be okay. I swear.” She kissed his forehead. He stared up at her, hopeful and unsure, and Belle hated that someone had made him look like that again. Small, scared, vulnerable, all sense of safety gone. She brushed their noses together, trying to hold her smile together.

“I...I missed you.” She broke. She held his face and stayed there, foreheads pressed, careful of the tubes and his chest in  general. He held her as best as he could in cold, shaking hands, the pair of them an absolute mess.

He didn’t calm fully until they’d taken the tubes out and let him breathe on his own, then Belle could hold him properly and he hid in her hair. He whispered apologies in a rough voice, begged for forgiveness in broken syllables, told her everything in hushed whimpers and Belle shushed every word, smoothing his hair and promising it was alright. She understood now, and it was alright.

“Now,” she said, smiling once more at him and pushed the bottle into his hand. “Take it. Take it and we, we can find a way to break you from the dagger without...without hurting anyone.” He nodded, giving her that frightened little boy look again.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “For...for everything, Belle.” He had the bottle, and after this his heart would be just fine, and he had Belle back. Still shaking he tried getting the cap on with frustratingly little success and he huffed.

Belle’s gentle hand pressed over his, the other lifting his chin. “Breathe, Rumple. Everything’s going to be alright.”

She closed the distance between them and kissed him, a gentle press of her lips against his, and something far more powerful jerked through Rumplestiltskin’s heart and left him without any remnant of an ache.

The bottle fell out of his hands, forgotten, as they kissed again.

Magic was a fickle thing, only certain aspects working beyond the town lines of Storybrooke. But a true love’s kiss could heal all wounds in any realm. Especially this one.

 


End file.
